Louis Farrakhan: Encyclopedia II - Louis Farrakhan - Controversy

Louis Farrakhan - Controversy

One of the most controversial quotes attributed to Farrakhan, and which led to him being censured unanimously by the United States Senate, was, "Hitler was a very great man." Farrakhan made this statement in response to a Jewish journalist at The Village Voice referring to him as a "Black Hitler":

"So I said to the members of the press, 'Why won't you go and look into what we are saying about the threats on Reverend Jackson's life?' Here the Jews don't like Farrakhan and so they call me 'Hitler'. Well that's a good name. Hitler was a very great man. He wasn't great for me as a Black man but he was a great German and he rose Germany up from the ashes of her defeat by the united force of all of Europe and America after the first world war. Yet Hitler took Germany from the ashes and rose her up and made her the greatest fighting machine of the twentieth century, brothers and sisters, and even though Europe and America had deciphered the code that Hitler was using to speak to his chiefs of staff, they still had trouble defeating Hitler even after knowing his plans in advance. Now I'm not proud of Hitler's evil toward Jewish people, but that's a matter of record. He rose Germany up from nothing. Well, in a sense you could say there is a similarity in that we are rising our people up from nothing, but don't compare me with your wicked killers."

Farrakhan has referred to Jews, Palestinian Arabs, and Asians as "bloodsuckers" and stated that "Murder and lying comes easy for white people." He has also been accused of calling Judaism a "gutter religion" although Farrakhan and his defenders deny this. An article in the NOI's periodical, Final Call, states that Farrakhan instead used the expression "dirty religion," and that "...in Minister Farrakhan’s vocabulary the phrase 'dirty religion' has a particular meaning..."'dirty religion' is the distorted faith which emerges from its manipulation by hypocrites or sinners."[2]

In 1998, Former The Wall Street Journal editor Jude Wanniski attempted to foster dialogue between Farrakhan and those who had labeled him anti-semitic. He arranged for Farrakhan to be interviewed by reporter Jeffrey Goldberg who had written for the Jewish weekly, The Forward and The New York Times. Since the extensive interview was never published in either publication, Wanniski decided to post the transcript on his website in the context of a memo of Senator Joseph Lieberman. The following are links to the interview, parts one, two and three:

• Interview with Farrakhan Part I
• Interview with Farrakhan Part II
• Interview with Farrakhan Part III

Although Farrakhan has denied he dislikes Jews, it must be noted that Elijah Muhammad, whom Farrakhan has, arguably, patterned himself after, once allowed the leader of the American Nazi Party, George Lincoln Rockwell to address the Nation of Islam in Chicago in 1963. Indeed, Rockwell paid Muhammad what he believed to be a compliment when he called the NOI leader the "Adolf Hitler of the black man". Not only did Muhammad allow Rockwell to speak, he applauded him enthusiastically. In response to NOI members who booed Rockwell, Muhammad chastised them, saying, "if they speak the truth for us, what do we care if they are white? ...we'll stand on our heads and applaud!"

Louis Farrakhan has also alluded to a figure called "Yacub" in regards to whites. According to Farrakhan's mentor, Elijah Muhammad, blacks were "born righteous and turned to unrighteousness," while the white race was "made unrighteous by the god who made them (Mr. Yacub)." [3]

In comments regarding the decimation of New Orleans, Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, Louis Farrakhan citing "very reliable information," stated that there was a 25-foot hole under one of the key levees that failed, and implied that the levee's destruction was a deliberate attempt to wipe out the population of largely black sections within the city. Farrakhan later revealed that the informant was current New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who told him of the crater during a meeting in Dallas, Texas. [4]

Farrakhan citied the fact that the levee broke the day after Hurricane Katrina passed as proof that the destruction of the levee was not a natural occurrence, a view shared by many, including columnist Gregory Kane of the Baltimore Sun and Black America Web and political commentator Cedric Muhammad. Kane has raised additional questions and has called for federal investigations into the source of the levee break.[5][6]

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Controversy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki